


Bold and brave (you are)

by Evil_Keshi



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bullying, First Dates, First Meetings, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-18
Updated: 2018-10-18
Packaged: 2019-08-04 02:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,926
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16337693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Evil_Keshi/pseuds/Evil_Keshi
Summary: In which Raj and Jonathan are dicks, Alec expects to be publicly humiliated and some things don't go according to plan. Thankfully.





	Bold and brave (you are)

**Author's Note:**

> Here I go again, unable to fight Malec... This oneshot didn't turn out quite the way I'd pictured but I'm glad I got it over with, haha! Enjoy :)

  


Alec didn't quite know how he had gotten there in the first place, _there_ actually meaning stuck between Raj and Jonathan, who were admittedly the biggest bullies in school. Alec would know, since he had been their favourite victim for the best part of the past few years, at least when neither Izzy nor Jace could be seen with him. Not that he couldn't stand up for himself and absolutely needed his siblings next to him all the time, but... He didn't like being noticed. Hence why he usually didn't react when they taunted him or made his tray fly to the other side of the cafeteria. It wasn't worth getting detention for, although Jace disagreed.

"What do you want?" Alec grumbled at the two boys, holding his freshly-bought books closer to his chest.

It wouldn't be the first time these stupid teenagers grabbed his books to throw them in the closest puddle of rainwater... Such an intention would explain why they'd ambushed him a few meters away from his favourite bookshop in town... Except that there were stores and shops all around and surely they wouldn't dare do anything too mean out in the open, right? No, not when people could jump in and defend Alec. They wanted something else, which wasn't a reassuring thought.

"Can't we say hi to our favourite gay friend?" Raj laughed, his hand coming up to rest on Alec's shoulder.

"We all know I'm neither your friend nor your favourite person," Alec denied, taking a step away from him. "What do you want?"

Raj's hand fell limply to his side and Jonathan's eyes narrowed.

"We want to help you out," the latter said softly, almost gently.

Alec wasn't fooled: he knew these two too well to believe that they would ever be willing to help him in any way, unless it was giving him a _helpful_ push in the stairways. Jonathan's mellow voice was only deceiving - perhaps Alec should make a run for it before Raj and he could do anything, get into some store somewhere, around _people_ , and wait until the boys got bored and left.

"We heard you haven't dated any boy yet," Raj said with a sick smile, "So we'll help you with that."

Of course, Alec realised with an annoyed sigh and a roll of his eyes. He should have known this was about his sexuality: people at school were still discussing his epic coming-out, although Izzy had told him this would die down eventually. Unable to take no for an answer, Jessica had pestered him during three whole weeks in hopes to get him to go to prom with her. Alec had tried everything he could to make her understand that he wasn't interested, going as far as to pretend he meant to ask someone else, until she'd exhausted him enough that he'd finally yelled _I'm gay!_

In the middle of the bloody cafeteria.

"I don't need your help to get a date," Alec said, "Now, if you'll excuse me..."

He attempted to step around them to go on his way but Raj's hand shot to his arm and held on, his nails digging into his skin.

"Not so fast, pretty boy," Jonathan snickered.

"Oh, you think I'm pretty?" Alec snapped, "Something you want to tell me? Is this where this is going, you want a date with me?"

"Not in your wildest dreams, Lightwood," the blond boy spat, before he turned and pointed at something - no, _someone_. "See the man sitting at the terrace over there? You're going to ask him out."

Alec couldn't help himself: he looked in the direction Jonathan's finger was showing him and his gaze zeroed in on a man at a table in front of a coffee shop, a tall cup in front of him as well as a slice of pie. Alec couldn't quite see his face, partly hidden by the book the man was reading, but he didn't need to get a visual to know where this was headed.

Raj and Jonathan wanted him to get rejected, hopefully quite rudely, so they could gloat over his failure the next day at school. They were certain of their success, at that, and Alec understood why. This young man's look and attitude screamed college, which meant he was a bit older and probably more mature than a high school student, even one in his last year, which consequently meant that Alec would get blown off, badly.

Even _if_ a college student was weird enough to be interested in a kid from high school... There were plenty of reasons for him to say no. Maybe he was straight. Maybe he wouldn't like Alec. Maybe he was already dating someone, perhaps even engaged. No matter the life he imagined for this stranger, it always came back to the same result, a rejection.

"I'm not going to ask him out," Alec protested, turning back to the bullies.

"Oh yes, you will," Raj snarled, taking out a phone, "and we're going to record and upload it online so everyone will see what a loser you are. No success with girls, no more with guys."

"Are you stupid?" Alec asked, resisting the urge to answer his own question by a _yes_. "Why do you think I would ever willingly humiliate myself in front of you when I know you're enjoying every second of it and even recording it?"

It seemed to be the wrong question to ask, because both Raj and Jonathan grinned, twin excited glimmers in their eyes. Alec dreaded to hear what they had to say.

"Because if you don't do it..." the dark-haired teenager started.

"... your little brother Max will be our next target," Jonathan finished with a smirk.

"He's a kid, for fuck's sake!" Alec cried out, disgusted, "He's not even ten, you..."

"Exactly, Alec," Raj interrupted him, "A ten-year-old boy doesn't deserve to be bullied. You wouldn't want anything to happen to your dear little brother now, would you?"

Alec swallowed, his knuckles turning white as his grip tightened on his books. They were horrible. He couldn't believe people could be so mean, just to enjoy watching a boy get rejected by another one. Yet, he'd known what his final answer would be as soon as they'd dropped Max's name.

"Fine!" he exclaimed, "I'll do it and you'll leave my little brother out of it."

"That's the deal, yeah," Jonathan shrugged. "Go on, then, Alec. We're all watching. Raj, I think we should do it live."

"Good idea!" the other agreed, always ready to go with Jonathan's twisted schemes. "We're on! Ladies and gentlemen, get ready for the rejection of the century as Alec Lightwood prepares himself to ask his first man on a date!"

Gritting his teeth, Alec moved forward, his mind racing as he approached the lonely man on the terrace. He could survive being rejected but no one at school would ever let him live it down. If it meant Max was safe, though... It was worth it. Maybe he could even get lucky? After all, not everyone was like Raj and Jonathan, there was no reason for this man to be rude... Unless he felt like his oh-so precious masculinity was attacked by this gay boy asking him out? No, no, he told himself a bit desperately, hanging onto his previous thought: not everyone was narrow-minded like that.

He realised he was wrong as soon as he got close enough to see the man's face. Holy crap. Shit. He was _so_ going to be rejected. That guy was too handsome to settle on someone like him. He loathed that insidious thought, because he wasn't used to thinking like this, and he hated that the voice in his head sounded like a mix between Raj's and Jonathan's. Still...

Alec was no poet but for a man like this one, he could have written a thousand lines of bad but heartfelt poetry. No one was perfect and yet, there didn't seem to exist a single flaw on that face, not with these eyes slowly looking up from the book to him, that mouth parting in surprise, that quick tongue wetting those lips... Maybe he made up for the physical flaws he didn't have with an awful personality? Probably not: at the sight of this young stranger standing in front of him, the man's mouth curled into a gentle smile and the voice that came out of his throat was just as kind.

"Hello there, may I help you?"

Oh God. That voice.

"Hi," Alec squeaked out, his palms getting damp on the books he was still holding onto, like a shield between the gorgeous man and him, "Uh, I... I..."

"You?" the man repeated, sparkles of laughter in his eyes, and Alec felt his heart drop to his feet before it attempted to escape his body altogether.

The stranger looked genuinely amused and curious, not mean like Raj and Jonathan, patiently waiting for Alec to get his bearings long enough to align two coherent words consecutively. He wasn't doing a great job at it, though. To be honest, he had no idea what to tell this man and he didn't exactly want to go through with the two bullies' plan. However, a glance their way told Alec that Raj was filming, expecting the biggest failure of all times to happen soon, and he resigned himself, thinking of Max.

"I'm sorry to bother you," Alec soon said with the most relaxed smile he could flash the stranger - judging by the young man's furrowing eyebrows, that was a failure too. "I was just wondering if... if perhaps you'd be interested in... Oh hell, I can't do this. Look, two idiots are looking to humiliate me by having me asking you out and getting rejected, which is obviously going to work well for them since there's no way you could possibly be interested in me but could you just... pretend, maybe, to at least give me your number? Please?"

There was a beat of silence and then...

"What?" the handsome man said, his eyes wide, and Alec was about to ask what he hadn't understood in his admittedly rushed speech, but then the other added, "Why would they think I'd reject you?"

"What?" Alec echoed, surprised. "I... Well, I suppose... Look at you! You're gorgeous and I'm..."

"A really good-looking young man," the stranger completed before Alec could finish his sentence.

"Oh. T... Thank you?" Alec answered hesitantly.

"You're most welcome," the other said with a smile, "although I'm only telling the truth, darling."

"Alexander," he corrected with a faint blush, "not _darling_ , but Alexander. Alec, really."

"Well, Alexander-Alec-really, I'm Magnus and I'd prefer to call you Alexander, if that's all right with you?"

"Y... Yeah? I guess?" Alec replied, blinking fast.

Who was this man? How could someone be this handsome and kind at the same time? How had he still not been rejected? Could it be... that Magnus was at least a tiny bit intrigued by him? Or was he doing this out of pity? Alec would gladly take pity if that was the only thing he was going to get out of this: at least Raj's and Jonathan's plan was failing and Alec wasn't that worried about Max anymore. If they did anything to his little brother, that would mean admitting their failure and people would know that was because of this exact moment Magnus had started to talk to Alec instead of slapping him or doing some nasty name calling. They would know Alec had won and that... Neither Raj nor Jonathan would be able to stand it.

"They are recording us?" Magnus asked, discreetly following Alec's gaze toward the two bullies.

"Yes," Alec answered with a sad smile, sorry that the other man had to be subjected to such idiocy, "Makes the humiliation far better if everyone can see it as it happens."

Magnus looked angry at that and Alec felt terrible for inflicting all of this to this sweet man who had been peacefully reading his book until he came along.

"I'm sorry," he said quietly.

"You're not the one who should apologise," Magnus told him, before he stood up all at once.

For a second, Alec feared that he was going to talk to Raj and Jonathan and make a scene but Magnus only walked around the table and pulled out a chair, nodding at Alec.

"Sit with me, Alexander."

Alec complied in a heartbeat, his stomach tied in knots as Magnus sat back in front of him, his piercing eyes staring at him as if they were trying to reach his soul. It was unsettling. Not uncomfortable though, just... strange. Alec wasn't used to someone looking at him in such a way. It was a nice change.

"Here," Magnus said out of the blue after a while of staring, handing Alec a menu in a swift gesture, "Choose something to eat or drink - or both - and that's on me. Their homemade lemonades are to kill for, if you'd like one, and the cherry pie is amazing. I heard the pecan nut is a delight, too."

"W...what?" Alec stammered, afraid to misunderstand but still accepting the menu, not knowing what else to do.

"Pick something," Magnus repeated with a smile, unaware of Alec's inner turmoil.

The teenager hid his trouble behind the open menu, his eyes reading through the list of pies but his brain unable to focus and settle for one of these as the names got mixed in his head. What was Magnus playing at? Was he sincere or was he just... faking interest, just like Alec had asked him to do when he'd come up to him in the first place? Probably the latter. Magnus was just a nice guy doing the decent thing for a boy who'd been about to get ridiculed for asking someone out.

Alec glanced at Raj and Jonathan, gobsmacked behind their screen, until the blond boy snatched the phone from his friend's hand and mumbled something, before they turned around and left. A smile appeared on Alec's lips at the sight of the two bullies, shoulders sagging, as they were finally given a taste of their own cooking. However, his smile dropped when he looked back at Magnus.

"Thank you for what you did," he said, his voice and his eyes filled with gratitude as he stood up. "I should leave you alone now, sorry again for bothering you..."

"Wait, what?" Magnus exclaimed, a frown on his face as he glanced from the menu on the table to Alec, looking disappointed. "You... You don't want..."

"I don't want to intrude," Alec explained shyly, casting his eyes down, "You were kind enough to spare me the humiliation, I wouldn't want to waste your time more than I already did."

Magnus got on his feet as well and, to Alec's immense surprise, took his hand between his own, warm and soft fingers resting gently over his skin.

"I think you misunderstand," the young man explained. "Alexander... I was sincere when I told you to sit and drink something with me. I thought it could be considered like a first date, if you'd wanted it to..."

Alec gaped at the other man, unable to believe his own ears and half-expecting Raj and Jonathan to come back and scream that Magnus had been involved in their plan from the start, to make him hope and then, utterly ruin him. Magnus looked serious, however, even anxious to get an answer, and Alec decided to trust him a little.

"Why..." he stammered, "why would you even want that? You don't know me..."

"Well, Alexander," Magnus answered with a small smile, "I think I know a few things about you... There's obviously a story behind all this but I can tell you're a brave boy for coming to me even though you knew what these two were doing, and you were bold enough to tell me all about it. Someone else could have sided with these bullies if you'd told them, you know?"

Magnus grew quiet and then he chuckled, as if only noticing something now, until he pointed at the books Alec somehow still hadn't let go of before nodding at his own book, discarded on the table.

"Bold, brave, with an obvious love for books," he commented, "That works for me."

"That works for me too," Alec hurried to say, before he blushed and rambled on, "I mean, you'd work for me, not I'd work for myself, that's... Well. Sorry, I'm really bad at this."

"That's only endearing, darling," Magnus teased him, squeezing his hand before letting go, giving him a choice. "So, now that we're on the same page, how about this first date? You, me, some pie and books to discuss. Interested?"

"Very," Alec mumbled, the tips of his ears burning as he sat back down, feeling like he'd missed an episode of his own life, although he wasn't going to complain.

When Magnus started to talk, his eyes set on his date as if he couldn't get enough of his face, Alec had a sudden realisation: this was all thanks to Raj and Jonathan, who'd imagined they could embarrass him in front of an audience, only to have Alec get his first date ever. Maybe he could send them flowers to thank them, just to have a laugh?

That fleeting thought quickly vanished from his mind when Magnus took his hand again, leaving Alec's heart wide open to the softness of his voice and his eyes.

  


**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Feel free to drop a comment, it would mean the world. Until next time! ;)


End file.
